Dr. George Lee's Speech at the San Jose Press Conference

Thank you, ladies and gentleman, and thank you Councilman Chuck Reed.

I have a brief statement about the Friends of Falun Gong and I have something to say about "Who is a friend of China?"

The Friends of Falun Gong is a non-profit organization. Most of our members are not Falun Gong practitioners. I am not a Falun Gong practitioner. The Friends of Falun Gong's has a sharply focused purpose: To stop the Communist government of the People's Republic of China's persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. That is to stop the imprisonment, torture and murder of Falun Gong practitioners, and to free those Falun Gong practitioners who are now in prison.

The Chinese Communist government is saying that most of you, the Friends of Falun Gong and Councilman Chuck Reed are "not friends of China." I would like to say a few words about what China is. China is not the Chinese Communist Party; China is not the Chinese Communist Government. China is, first and foremost, the Chinese people.

Thus, friends of China are, first and foremost, friends of the Chinese people. People who are saddened and concerned when Chinese people are wrongly imprisoned, tortured and murdered by the Chinese people are friends of the Chinese people and friends of China. People who try to stop the Chinese government's imprisonment, torturing and murder of the Chinese people are friends of the Chinese people and China. People who try to reveal the atrocities committed against the Chinese people by the Chinese government are friends of the Chinese people and China. People like Dr. Chunyan Teng, who took pictures of the Chinese government's inhumane treatment of Falun Practitioners, is a friend of China.

People who support a Chinese government that imprison, torture and murder the Chinese people are not friends of the Chinese people or China. People who support a government that butchers the Chinese people so that they can do business with the butchers are not friends of China. They don't care about the suffering of the Chinese people; they only care about the thickness of their wallets. People who try to hide the atrocities committed against the Chinese people by the Chinese government are not friends of the Chinese people or China. People who imprison, torture and murder the Chinese people are not friends of the Chinese people or China; they are the enemies of the Chinese people and China.

We sincerely and urgently ask the Chinese government to stop the imprisonment, torture and murder of Falun Gong practitioners. We sincerely and urgently ask the Chinese government to please free the imprisoned Falun Gong practitioners. We sincerely and urgently ask the Chinese government to please immediately free Dr. Teng Chunyan and Jianhua Lu.

Editor's note:

*Dr. George Lee is the Director of Friends of Falun Gong in Northern California. He is also the director of US-China Business Institute at San Francisco State University, where he teaches International Business. Dr. Lee had also served as the Commercial Attache and Acting Commercial Counselor at the American Embassy in Beijing, China.

* Lu Jianhua was sent to Masanjia Labor Camp in China simply because of her belief in Falun Gong. Her sister Lu Zhonghua, a local resident, presented her case at the press conference.

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